Witch hunt in Bay're
by lordsoftheRoses
Summary: The Siege of Sillfi was a coup attempt to kill Prince Chrom and take over the kingdom of Ylisse. The architect of the failed siege, Christina, has fled and escaped justice. Robin feels responsible for her escape and volunteers to track her down. Will he find Christina and bring Justice to his friends who died at Sillfi? Or will the girl known as the 'White Witch' escape justice?
1. Chapter 1: Meeting at Valm harbor

_**From the Award winning writer, lordsoftheroses, author of the 4 time 'Fanficiton Award Nominated' story, The Siege of Sillfi (And winner of Best Fictional Location: The city of Sillfi) comes the Long awaited Sequel: Witch Hunt in Bay're.**_

**Alright this is the sequel to Siege of Sillfi. If you haven't read it et, check it out. Also, I'd like to thank MewBladeXxX for being a beta on this chapter and the rest for this story. If you have let's get into this story already shall we?**

**Review Below, Let me Know! ^^**

* * *

Inigo, I leave you in charge for once and only give you two orders to follow while I was gone. Don't surrender and don't sleep with anyone-I THOUGHT THE LATTER WOUD BE MORE PROBABLE!"

Robin was tossed to the ground into a cage, his shackles clanging against the steel. Inigo was in the cage next to Robin, avoiding eye contact. Robin saw the others in cages around them. They were out in the town center with a Knight platoon keeping guard of them. The Knight leader was testing his axe on some wood and, with a clean cut, split it in half.

"That's very nice." The Knight leader said. He walked over to the Executioner's block and turned to the cages. "Which of you Ylisseians want to go first?"

Robin sighed as he looked down. "How did we get into this mess?" he asked.

...

* * *

Two weeks earlier...

The Shepherds had attacked and secured Valm Harbor. The camp had been set up in the middle of town and Robin was going over the strategy with Chrom in the tent.

"-about another week until the next rest of the Feroxi forces arrive." Robin said. "So we'll need to sit tight until then."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard." Chrom said. "In the meantime, we should figure out whatever we can from Say'ri."

"All right, just let me just check something here." Robin said, looking over the maps.

Chrom nodded and walked out of the tent. Robin looked over the map and put his fingers between where some mountains should be.

"... Is that supposed to be a town there?" Robin wondered. "What's it say... 'Baaay... re... Bay're? I wonder what's out there?"

"Excuse me? Father, I-" Lucina entered the tent and noticed that Chrom wasn't there. "Oh, Robin, sorry."

"Ah, don't be sorry. You just missed him." Robin said. "He went to go talk with Say'ri."

"Oh, I'll go see him, then." She said. She turned to leave, but stopped just short of going out of the tent. She turned back to look at Robin.

"Something else you need?" Robin asked.

"Just concerned." She answered. "You don't seem to get much sleep."

"Very little time to sleep in this line of work," Robin stated. "Gets kind of hard when you think assassins will kill you in your sleep."

Lucina shook her head. "Your humor astounds me."

"You should try it sometime. Might lighten your mood a little bit, Debby Downer."

"I'll see you around." Lucina said as she left.

As soon as Lucina was gone, Robin walked over to a bucket of ice water and dunked his entire head in it.

* * *

The Shepherds were working hard to secure the area around Valm Harbor, preparing for any possible counterattack. Robin looked around and still couldn't get used to the many new faces that joined the Shepherds. For example, Henry; he was talking with the harbor's kids about his battles... in very... grim... detail.

"And his eye was dangling out of the socket. And when the ax was removed from the head, you could see everything that was inside his skull." Henry retold the story for the kids.

"Awesome!" One of the kids reacted.

"Uh, Henry, maybe you stop it." Robin suggested.

"But why?" Henry questioned. "Everyone loves talking about blood and death. Right kids?"

"YAY!" The kids cheered.

"... I fear for our young." Robin said.

"No, fear for the people they're gonna be killing!" Henry said.

Robin said nothing and just backed away slowly.

"Robin! Robin!" Lissa came running up, panting.

"Lissa, what is it?" Robin asked.

"It's, huff, about Christina." Lissa said. "We might have a lead."

* * *

Lissa brought Robin to the tent where Chrom and Frederick were speaking with Say'ri.

"Say'ri, you know about Christina?" Robin asked.

"The woman who wore white." Say'ri said. "Yes. She arrived not long ago. She informed us that Ylisse would be landing in Valm Harbor."

"She knew exactly where we going to land." Frederick said. "How can she even of known we were coming at all?"

"She is a brilliant tactician remember." Chrom said. "Thinking several moves ahead. She probably thought we had come for her."

"If I may ask," Say'ri interrupted. "Why do you pursue this woman?"

"She was part of a group that led a coup against Chrom." Robin said. "Most of the ring leaders are dead, except for her. She planned the whole thing, and...we lost some good friends in that fight."

"Last we heard she made way for Port Ferox." Frederick said. "We were about to pursue her the Valm attacked. We helped Regna Ferox repel the invasion, but by then we found out she stole a fisherman's boat and sailed off."

"I am sorry." Say'ri spoke. "Had I known of her crimes, I wouldn't have let her go."

"Do you know where she is?" Robin asked.

"She headed to the mountains to the north." Say'ri explained. "Possibly to Bay're."

"Bay're?" Robin asked.

Say'ri nodded. "Bay're is a town built in a plain surrounded by mountains. Not much lives out there, but it's small enough to not be noticed, but large enough for someone to disappear."

"We'll head out for Bay're then." Chrom said.

"We can't leave Valm Harbor, my lord." Frederick said. "What Valm counter attacks before the Feroxi soldiers land?"

"Then how about a small team?" Robin asked. "I can lead them, we'll move faster than with an Army, we'll grab Christina and be back before the Feroxi troops land."

Frederick nodded. "I second that idea." he said.

"Alright Robin." Chrom said. "Pick out who you need and march at once. We can't let her slip away."

"Yes Chrom." Robin said.

* * *

Once Robin left the tent Lissa was waiting for him with her hands on her hips.

"You're taking me with you!" she declared.

"Lissa-"

"Don't 'Lissa' me!" Lissa snapped. "You owe me Robin! You promised you would make her pay! I could've killed her right there and we wouldn't have to worry about this! Tharja and Vaike died because of her! I am going make sure she pays! You Promised me!"

"I know," Robin said. "I was going to say, get your best ax. We're leaving soon."

Lissa calmed herself down and smiled, and then ran to get her equipment. Once she was out of sight, Robin clenched his fist as it shook with rage.

"Vaike...Tharja..." He muttered to himself. "You two will have justice. I swear it!"


	2. Chapter 2: Departure

**Alright, it's Midnight, and I'm tired. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Review below, Let me know.**

* * *

"Aaaaand there. You're a very pretty girl, aren't ya?" Nowi said to Nah, putting a large bow in her hair.

Nah just glared at Nowi with disdain. "Thank you, Mother."

"Now you be a good girl and listen to Uncle Robin, okay?" Nowi told her.

"Of course, Mother." Nah responded.

As Nah turned around and walked away, Nowi started to tear up.

"They grow up so fast." Nowi said. "Ricken, I need a box of tissues!"

* * *

Nah went to the edge of the town where Robin was waiting with several other Shepherds, ready to go and being annoyed by Henry.

"Henry, stop it." Robin said.

"But you got to eat to keep your strength up." Henry said.

"I'm not eating an eyeball!" Robin shouted.

"Come on." Henry said. "EYE see that you haven't been eating lately."

"I'll get something as we go, just get that thing away from me!" Robin exclaimed.

"There's something wrong with that man." Nah said out loud.

"Okay, Nah's here." Robin noticed her. Robin then went to check on everyone else who was there. He saw Lon'qu and Lissa who were both leaning against a house, ready to get going. Robin then looked at Henry, who was still holding an eyeball. "Get rid of that thing, man!" He then noticed Laurent was just standing around reading a book and then saw Nah again. Then he noticed the seventh member of their expedition wasn't there. "Damn it, where's Inigo?"

* * *

"So I'm going out on a highly dangerous mission. Not sure if I'll make it back alive. All I ask is but a memento to give me something to think about upon my return. Give me a reason to live." Inigo was trying to sweet talk a young maiden in an alley.

She seemed to be taken in by his charm. "Oh, d-dearest Inigo..." The girl squealed. "Won't it mean more if you were to depart without it?"

Inigo gently put his hand on the side of the girl's face and stroked her cheek. "My dear, all I ask is for one kiss. So in my darkest moments I can think back to it and the joy you have given me."

The girl was smitten by Inigo's words and closed her eyes. Inigo leaned in to receive his reward when suddenly he got yanked by the ear, dragged away from the maiden and out of the alley.

"Dow! Hey, Robin, what are you doing?!" Inigo exclaimed in pain.

"We're leaving. Now!" Robin scolded him.

"But I just-D'oh." Inigo groaned.

* * *

Robin dragged Inigo all the way to the rally point and finally let go of his ear.

"All right, now that we're all here..." Robin said as he pulled out a map. "We're going to march here to Bay're, here in the mountains. Along the way, there are two towns. We can stop at these towns and ask for any information or supplies we may have forgotten. If we march through the night, we can probably make it to the first town by tomorrow afternoon."

"I fail to conceive the relevance of such a frivolous venture, all in search of a single fugitive." Laurent expressed.

"I kind of agree with the pervert here." Nah said.

"I am not a-Gah! You are exasperating." Laurent sighed.

"Seriously, is this one person such a big deal?" Nah questioned.

"Yes!" Robin and Lissa answered at the same time in angry tones.

"Gulp. Sorry." Nah apologized.

"What Nah's saying..." Inigo spoke up. "We don't understand the purpose as you understand it. We weren't there. We didn't see what kind of person this Christina is."

"All you need to know is that she is evil and killed some of our friends." Lissa said.

"And crazy." Lon'qu added. "She's also crazy."

"Yeah, she's pretty crazy." Robin said.

"Can't wait to meet her!" Henry said, excited. "Maybe we can share stories!"

"She can also summon a large force of Risen from thin air." Everyone turned and saw Lucina join the group. "I've never seen a person control a large group of Risen like she has." She explained. "Robin, if you will permit it, I would like to join you."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked. "Wouldn't you want to stay here and protect your father?"

"There's no immediate threat to us now." Lucina responded. "And also, I was at Sillfi, remember? I've seen how many people died because of her. I'll do everything I can to help you bring her down."

Robin stood there for a moment and finally nodded. He then turned and waved his finger in the air. "Let's get moving, people! We can walk and talk at the same time!"

The group started their march out of town.

* * *

After hours of walking, the sun had set and night had come to the sky. Robin was leading the way, using magic to keep a lit fire ahead of the group. Most of the group was dragging, feeling tired now.

Lissa let out big yawn. "Yaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnn...Robin can we take stop?" she asked. "I'm tired and my feet are starting to hurt."

"Nah's already sleeping like the dead!" Henry said carrying a sleeping Nah on his back. "...Someone check her pulse."

"Guys we gotta keep moving." Robin said. "I want to reach Bay're as soon as possible."

"Robin, we should stop." Lucina suggested. "When was the last time you had a decent night's sleep?"

"Uh, let's see..." Robin tried to recall. "When did we leave Port Ferox? About a week ago before that. I gave up trying and stayed awake the past three days straight."

Lucina was alarmed. "Robin, we have to stop now."

Robin turned his head to her, but kept walking. "Fine, you guys can stop and rest, but I'm still going."

"Robin-" Lucina was about to say.

"I'll go ahead and meet you guys in the village." Robin interrupted, sounding more irritated. "I'm not abou-"

"STOP!" Lucina shouted, grabbing Robin by the collar and pulled him back.

Robin quickly knocked her hand away as he turned to her. "What?! What is your problem?!"

Lucina points and Robin noticed that he was about to walk off a cliff before she pulled him.

"... Oh." Robin simply said. "You know, maybe we should take a rest."

"He almost FELL for that one." Henry joked. "Nyaah!

* * *

They had set up a small camp with a lit fire and everyone had nodded off. Everyone except Lucina, who just sat up, keeping vigilant. Robin had stayed away from the main group and was supposedly napping behind a tree. Lucina sighed as she noticed that Lissa was twitching.

"... oooooh..." Lissa mumbled in her sleep. "Oh, Robin stop, that tickles..."

Lucina smirked a little bit as she poked the fire with a stick.

"You should get some rest, too."

Lucina was surprised and turned to see Lon'qu standing against one of the trees.

"I'm not tired, I can keep watch." Lon'qu told her.

"Thank you, Lon'qu." Lucina said.

"And he's not sleeping, you know." Lon'qu said.

"Pardon?" Lucina seemed a bit confused.

"Robin. He's only pretending."

"Ngh, damn it." Lucina got up and was about to talk to Robin until Lon'qu stopped her.

"Just let him be. He'll pass out, eventually."

"He's not taking care of himself. We need him to be at his best."

"I understand, but trying to force him is not the way to do it. Between our invasion of Valm, the intense battle strategies he needs to come up with, this whole rumor between him and Validar and now the search for Christina on top it, he is dealing with a lot of stress and he's just dealing with it his own way."

Lucina just stayed put as she tried to wrap her head around this. "Fine. But if he does not getting any sleep tonight, I don't want him to lead us into town tomorrow."

"As long as we don't walk off any cliffs, I'll be happy."

* * *

_Robin was walking through the forest. It was dark and a mist and filled the air._

_'Robin...'_

_"Tharja?" Robin asked looking around._

_'Yo, Teach is here too...'_

_"Vaike?"_

_'Why did you let her go...?'_

_'Not cool...'_

_Robin just stood there and didn't say anything._

_'Pathetic...'_

_A light shined to Robin's side. He turned his head and saw a white ghost, of a young woman, all white, standing there with her head down. She lifted her head and a monstrous face rose up, devouring him..._

GASP!

Robin shot up from the ground in cold sweat. The morning sun peered through the tree leaves.

"I hate that dream..." Robin gasped as he held his head.

"Robin?"

Lucina peered her head around the tree to see him awake. "We have breakfast ready. Why don't you have some."

Robin gets up and dusts the dirt off him. "I'm not hungry. Just let me know when everyone's ready to go." Robin then walks away by himself.

Lucina just watched him as he walked away.

* * *

After several hours of walking, the group came across a town.

"Okay, we'll all split up here." Robin said. "Ask around for information and get any supplies we need. We'll meet at the inn later."

"What do we ask the people?" Nah asked.

"Ask about Christina." Robin told her. "Ask about strange Risen attacks and if they need a description; She's a young woman wearing this one of a kind white dress, yellow cotton jacket of sorts, with lace ribbons across her torso."

"Found her!" Henry said pointing into town.

Robin quickly turned around in shock and saw...that every woman in town was wearing an elegant white dress with a yellow cotton jacket of sorts with lace ribbons across their torsos.

"And there-" Henry said pointing at another girl. "and over there too! Wow! That search was easy!"

"...Oh this is not a good sign..." Robin muttered.


	3. Chapter 3: The Cult Town

**My Beta is currently on vacation so if there are some mistakes here, you're going to have to deal with it for a time. Once she's back and checks it over, I'll replace the chapter with corrections. Until then**

**Review**** below, Let me know! ^^**

* * *

The Shepherds arrived in a small town where all the women were wearing the white dress style similar to Christina's. It was a surreal sight.

"Maybe she has her own cult following." Henry said. "That would be cool!"

Inigo walked up to one of the young ladies and started to flirt with her. "Hello, my dear. That is the most fetching dress I've seen on you."

The lady blushed. "Oh my, why thank you. This is the popular style going around now."

"I can see that." Inigo said. "Tell me, who do I have to thank for making such a beautiful creature even more beautiful?"

"This is the most recent style by Jean DeLafour." The lady answered. "You're not a real women until you wear one of his most recent styles. The man is a clothing artist."

"I'll be sure to thank him when I see him, my dear." Inigo bowed. "But surely a woman such as you doesn't need a dress to look beautiful."

The others just stared at them blankly.

"... I feel dumber after actually having to watch that." Nah commented.

"Okay, let's split up now." Robin said. "I'll go find this Jean DeLafour guy, the rest of you do whatever." Robin then walked off to execute his plan.

"I don't believe that's much of a real plan, is it?" Laurent questioned.

* * *

When the group split up, Lissa headed for the small marketplace. There, she saw several mannequins modeling the Christina-looking dress.

"Blah!" Lissa stuck her tongue out. "Do people seriously have no taste in good clothes?"

Lissa looked around and realized there was no one around, so she hocked up the saliva in her mouth and tried to spit on the dresses. However, she wasn't a good spitter so the spit just dangled from her mouth. She tried to get the spit out, but it was just so disgusting it made her sick. When she couldn't get the spit to drop, she had to hock it back in and swallow it. "Egh, disgusting!"

* * *

Henry and Lon'qu were standing at the edge of town just looking around.

"So Lon'qu, I hear you're afraid of girls." Henry spoke up. "Afraid of catching some cooties?"

"I'm not talking about this with you." Lon'qu said.

"It's such a silly thing to be scared of." Henry said. "Why aren't you afraid of flowers or being decapitated? Or rainbows? Or having your genitals pulled off?"

"What is wrong with you?" Lon'qu asked.

"What's wrong with me? You're the one scared of girls." He stated.

* * *

Robin found a store with a sign saying 'DeLafour Fashion' and went inside. Inside, he saw a short man sewing one of the hundreds of dresses that were all lined up.

"Thees is without a dout, the greetest work ee've ever doon in my leef." The short man stated in an accent.

"Mr. DeLafour?" Robin asked.

"MASTER DeLafour! MASTER!" The man rudely interjected. "I will noot be insulted by bee calling a meester."

"Sorry, Master DeLafour." Robin apologized. "I just came to ask you about your dresses."

DeLafour looked over Robin. "You vant to try on one of my dresses? Well, I can't convince a man to chance his lifestyle, so-"

"No, no no!" Robin exclaimed. "I don't want to wear a dress!"

"Oh, you vant a custom dress for your lover!" DeLafour guessed. "I'll be happy to design one for her darling! I just need her measuremants!"

"Uh..." Robin was speechless.

"Oh, it's a man, isn't it?" DeLafour asked. "Oh, you lucky fella, you."

"Um, Robin?" Lucina peeked her head in.

DeLafour quickly dragged her in and looked at the young lady. "So thees ees the mysterious lover I heard so much about. Hmmm! Hmmm! Hmm!"

"Uh, Robin, what's he talking about?" Lucina asked, her cheeks flushed.

"I have no idea." Robin answered.

"Hmph, you are far too skinny, girl. That is not good for bearing children." DeLafour critiqued Lucina's body. He pulled on the skin of her body. "This is all muscle. Not good for the shoulder or dresses, no. And to top it off, you're way too tall. But worst of all, your breasts are just too small to fill out any of my dresses. To be a real woman, you need a big bosom, something that men must hold onto and suckle just as a baby would suck on an enormous teat."

And Lucina, justifiably, punched the son of a bitch. Her face was as red as an evening sun. "You... You... GAH!" Nobody had seen Lucina so angry in her life.

DeLafour got up and looked at Robin. "That voman is too violent. She will be a poor influence on your children someday."

Robin puts his hands on his face. "Oh, gods..."

* * *

Lucina had walked off in a rage near the edge of town mumbling to herself. "That no-good, sexuality obsessed pig! No wonder he would work on that dress! It's the dress only a WHORE would wear! GODS!"

"Whoa, Lucina, relax." Nah interrupted, carrying some supplies. "What happened? You NEVER overreact like that."

"I'm just-so-gah-em-embarrassed in my life!" Lucina trembled with anger.

Nah puts her supplies down. "Come on now, let's have a seat."

The two girls then sit down next to each other on a bench and take calm, synchronized breaths together to calm down. After a couple of moments, Nah spoke up.

"You feel any better?" Nah asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Lucina sighed. "Hey, is my..." She flushed as she tried to get the words out. "Is my... um, chest... too small?"

Nah just glared at her for a second. "Ahem." Nah patted herself on the chest, emphasizing that she was as flat as a cutting board.

"Oh, sorry." Lucina apologized.

"No big deal." Nah said. "Why do you care about that all of a sudden? It's not like you cared about that stuff before."

"It's just... it's just embarrassing." Lucina responded.

* * *

"I just want to know where you got the idea to design these dresses." Robin said to DeLafour.

"Oh, if that's vhat you vanted, you should ave just said so." DeLafour said. "Well, a couple fortnights ago, this town and our sister town to the east were harassed by the Bay're Riders. A group of horsemen who damaged our town and tax us so they don't destroy more of the towns. One night, this woman, this witch wearing the white dress, uses her magic to repel the Riders. She didn't kill anyone, but she did make them angry and they threatened to burn the whole town to the ground. However, the witch met with their leader and somehow convinced them to leave us alone. It vas miraculous."

"Huh..." Robin simply said.

"When I saw the dress she was seeing, it was like nothing I have seen before. True love at first sight, if you vill." DeLafour reaches for a piece of paper. "She modeled it for me as I sketched it down." DeLafour handed Robin the detailed sketch of Christina's dress and of the woman wearing it without a face. "Then I start stitching together and voila! My greatest masterpiece!"

"Do you have any idea where she went?" Robin inquired.

"The, uh, Bay're Riders took her to Bay're. Might I ask why you are looking for her?"

"It's personal. Thanks for the information, I'll get out of your way." Robin leaves.

* * *

"So, Inigo, were you satisfied with your instant gratification?" Laurent asked.

"Not really. Things took a real turn for the worst when her husband came by." Inigo had several dark bruises all over his face.

Robin rejoined the two, who were also rejoined by Henry and Lon'qu. "If you guys are done, let's regroup with everyone back at the inn."

"Wait a sec." Lon'qu spoke. "Do you guys hear that?"

Everyone listened around.

"I don't hear anything." Inigio said.

"Exactly." Lon'qu said. "Where are all the townspeople?"

The entire town felt empty all of a sudden.

"Wow, this is so creepy!" Henry said with a grin on his face.

"Uh, let's meet up with the girls and get out of here." Robin suggested. "I don't like this one bit."

"You are not going anywhere, little one." DeLafour said, standing outside. "Ve vere told that someone vould be coming, asking about our vhite dresses. Ve vere told that you vould also be searching for the vhite vitch. And ve vere told the horrible things you vould do to her you horrible, EVIL PEOPLE!"

Suddenly, the people of the town began to emerge from the shadows carrying all sorts of weapons from swords to bows to torches to pitchforks.

"It IS a cult! Hooray!" Henry said.

"Look, you don't understand." Robin said. "She's a criminal and-"

"You vill die here!" DeLafour threw an axe at Robin.

Robin quickly pulled out a magic tome ad used fire magic to incinerate the axe. Suddenly, the townspeople began to rush at them.

"Laurent!" Robin called out.

Laurent and Robin used fire magic to create a sphere of fire around the Shepherds. They ran through the crowd and the crowd jumped away, letting them through.

"Don't let them escape!" DeLafour shouted, losing his fake accent.

* * *

Lissa stopped when she heard the large ruckus and saw smoke rising in the middle of town.

"What's going on?" Lissa wondered.

Suddenly, a man charged at Lissa after pulling out a knife. The guy missed the initial strike on Lissa and she pulled out her steel axe, clipping the guy in the leg with a quick swing.

"What was that for?!" Lissa yelled.

Suddenly, more men began to surround her, all brandishing a weapon of some kind.

"Aunt Lissa!" Lucina came in from behind and cut through two of the men. Nah followed her, clutching her Dragonstone. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Lissa responded. "I knew there was something wrong with this town!"

Nah powered up her Dragonstone and transformed into her dragon form. She roared threateningly at the townsfolk, gathering up some fire in her mouth.

"Ah! Ah! Manakete! Run!" One of the men screamed as he ran for his life.

Nah fired some warning shots to keep them running. "Yeah, you better run!"

* * *

The fire from the tomes had worn off and Robin and the others found themselves surrounded again. Robin had switched to a steel sword and was fending off some of the villagers. Lon'qu had cut five men down already while Inigo and Laurent were back to back, watching each other's back.

"I thought this was a small village." Robin said. "Where did all these people come from?"

Just then, Nah flew over with Lucina and Lissa and shot fire down on the villagers. The villagers were not deterred though as they kept fighting. Lucina and Lissa jumped down and tried to help their friends with the fight.

"About time!" Robin said. "What took you girls so long?"

"Had to put on our makeup!" Lucina joked.

Behind the mass of villagers, a catapult appeared and it fired a giant rock that struck Nah. Nah fell and reverted to her normal state. Laurent had caught her just before she hit the ground and the villagers had completely surrounded and outnumbered them. DeLafour then came to the front to negotiate.

"If you all throw down your weapons now, we promise to lock in one of the basements for the rest of your lives." DeLafour offered. "No one else has to die."

"Why defend Christina for all this?" Robin asked. "She brainwashed you people!"

"She saved us!" DeLafour furiously responded. "Life in this village was miserable until she came along! Thanks to her, we finally have peace in this land that we've not known since before Valm conquered this land! And now you monsters want to take that away!"

"She's a monster!" Lissa shouted. "She cares only for herself and she'll let you die for her!"

"Enough!" DeLafour shouted. "We'll just have you executed here in the square! Catapult!"

The catapult armed itself and aimed at their group.

"Ready! Aim! Fi-"

"Duhn-da-daaaaaaaaaa!"

Everyone looked up and saw a pegasus swoop down from the sky, land on DeLafour and trample him to death. The one riding the pegasus was none other than Cynthia .

"Cynthia to the rescue!" She shouted.

The Shepherds just blinked at her amazing entrance.

"Okay, that was kind of cool." Robin said.

The mob, now leaderless, dispersed in a panic and all fled into their homes to hide.

"Great timing, Cynthia." Lucina said.

"'Great timing', nothing! You all left without me!" Cynthia pouted. "I was flying all through the night to find you guys! I think I deserve a little more respect than what I've gotten!"

"Maybe later." Robin said. "We should leave town before they decide to attack again."

Everyone then turned to leave, while Cynthia kept talking to herself.

"I think we should build a statue on this spot engraved 'Cynthia, the Greatest Warrior Ever'! And we'll throw festivals in my honor on my birthday! And everyone will give me presents and-Hey, wait for me!"

Cynthia nudged her pegasus forward, to catch up with the others as they left the town.


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome to Bay're

**Sorry,for the long wait. Between my other stories, classes and Conventions I've been busy. I'm trying to update as fast as I possibly can. All I ask is that you be patient.**

**Review Below, let me Know! ^^ **

* * *

The campfire had pretty much died for the night as everyone was sleeping. Everyone except Robin, who was on lookout. Robin kept nodding off every once in a while, but kept smacking himself in the face to keep himself awake.

"Come on, Robin, come on, you need to stay awake." Robin muttered to himself. Robin shook his head to keep his consciousness, knowing if he fell asleep he would have one of those dreams again. "You know, I'll just go for a jog." Robin gets up and jogs around the camp a couple of times. "Yeah, this ain't so bad, just got to keep this up for another hour and-"

Robin tripped over something and stumbled a bit, but then fell onto something sharp like a knife, then felt iron teeth clench his leg.

"AHG! SON OF A BITCH!" Robin shouted in pain.

He fell to the ground in agony and tried to pull the bear trap apart, but he was having difficulty due to the angle. His screaming had woken everyone in the camp up and they all saw him on the ground.

"Wow! That looks painful!" Henry said gleefully.

"Robin, what happened?" Lucina asked.

"I'M GETTING A PEDICURE!" Robin shouted. "WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?! I'M CAUGHT IN A BEAR TRAP!"

Lon'qu went over and tried to pull the trap apart. "Rrgh, this thing is jammed tight. Inigo, give me a hand."

Inigo comes over and tries to help pull it apart, but it just causes more pain for Robin.

"Ow, OW! STOP IT! You're going to rip my leg off!" Robin yelled.

"Dah-dah-DAH! Cynthia to the rescue!" Cynthia jams her spear in a small opening that the guys created and uses it to pry the bear trap open. "Eeeyaah!"

The jaws of the bear trap opened up and Robin pulls his leg away. His leg was covered in gushing red blood. Lissa came over and began using her healing abilities.

"How did you get caught in a bear trap?" Lissa questioned.

"Well, I was on lookout trying to stay awake, so I started jogging." Robin answered. "I tripped over something and got caught."

"Why were you on lookout?" Lucina asked. "It was Inigo's turn to be on lookout."

Inigo puts his hands behind his head and whistles.

"Inigo!" Lucina shouted.

"I was tired, okay?" Inigo admitted. "Robin was kind enough to take my shift."

Lucina rubbed her forehead. "Robin, you NEED to get some sleep."

"Mind your own damn business!" Robin responded. "I'm in charge here and I will sleep when I want to sleep!"

"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" Lucina asked.

"Whoa whoa, let's all calm down!" Lissa tried to mediate. "We got a serious injury here. Let me just heal it up and then we can talk about it, okay?"

Lucina crossed her arms and just turned away. After several minutes of healing, Lissa had cleaned up all of the blood and fixed Robin's leg.

"There you go, good as new!" Lissa said, patting Robin on the leg.

At that moment, the dark sky started to light up as the sun began to rise. Robin then got up to his feet and dusted himself off.

"All right, we're almost at Bay're. Let's get going." Robin started to walk off.

"Robin, what about sleep?" Lucina asked.

"Sorry, Lucina, I'm already too far away to hear mumble mumble mumble." Robin replied.

Lucina threw her arms down in anger. "Rrgh, he's just so frustrating!"

Lissa looked around. "Shouldn't we pack up camp before we go off?"

* * *

After about an hour of traveling, they could see the mountains rising in the distance and eventually the walls of a town built on the slope of one of the mountains. They could see everything from the front gate of the wall to the top of the town where a mansion-like palace stood.

"That must be Bay're." Robin sighed, stretching out a little bit.

"That's it?" Cynthia asked. "I was expecting a grand city where you have to fight off an army of the undead, then scale the walls, open the gates then rush in to defeat the enemy! That just looks like a town."

"That is because it is a town." Nah stated.

"Well I want my epic battle!" Cynthia whined. "That's the only reason I came!"

"If fortune favors us, then we can extract the criminal in question without raising any suspicion..." Laurent said. "Or violence."

"Well that's no fun, we could use a little violence." Henry said.

"I agree with the creepy guy!" Cynthia said. "A hero needs to save a city from violence!"

Lon'qu tapped Robin on the shoulder. "Why are we stuck babysitting these kids?"

"Cause Chrom hates us for some reason." Robin joked.

"I think it would be great to have a kid someday." Lissa expressed. "Any takers?"

Lon'qu and Robin looked at each other like 'what's that supposed to mean?'.

* * *

Upon arriving in the town, the front gates were open. The wall and the gates were made out of wood, so it wasn't very durable in the event of a siege. It was mostly used to keep bandits away. The town itself was relatively peaceful, a small militia guarded the town allowing merchants to freely sell their merchandise and kids to play in the streets.

"Well this town seems nice." Inigo said.

"The last town was nice, too." Henry said.

"Are you mad?" Inigo asked. "The last town was out for blood-look who I'm talking to."

"Yay, blood!" Henry cheered.

Robin looked around and surveyed the area. "Okay, how are we going to do this?" He spoke aloud to himself.

"Why don't we just split up and start asking for Christina?" Nah asked.

"Great idea! You mean like the last town we went to?" Robin sarcastically responded. "You know, like the one that tried to kill us when they found out we were after her?"

"I'm sorry." Nah apologized. "Geez, I was only trying to help."

Robin covered his mouth with both his hands and breathed in and out. "...You're right...I'm sorry..." he said. "I'm just frustrated...I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"This is why you need sleep." Lucina said. "You can't think."

"Again with the slee-" Robin was about to yell at Lucina but stopped himself. "...Let's just find an Inn...I'll rent a room and nap...happy?"

Lucina gave a half smile. "That's all I ask." she said.

The crowd in town began to gather at a single spot ahead of them. An escort of men, in silver armor, carrying large spears, were guarding a single figure. It was hard to tell at first with the people around them, but once they moved out of the way, they could see that the guards were escorting a young woman whose long hair flowing as she moved and wearing an elegant white dress with a yellow cotton jacket of sorts with lace ribbons across her torso. In her hand, she carried a book, possibly a tome. Robin glared, seeing her in the distance.

"That's her." Robin muttered.

Lissa's hands were shaking with rage seeing that woman again. She was ready to reach for her axe, but Lon'qu quickly blocked her hand with his.

"Not yet." Lon'qu said.

The group continued to watch from a distance as the woman was meeting with the people around the town. She seemed very peaceful and well spoken from what they could tell. A man offered her a bag of gold which she politely declined. She even kneeled down to speak with several young children around her. She didn't seem to be a monster at all.

"So that's the infamous Christina, huh?" Inigo asked. "How come evil has all the beautiful people on their side? It's really no fair."

"Hey, I'm a good guy!" Cynthia spoke. "Does that make me ugly?"

"According to his logic, it would appear so." Laurent responded.

Cynthia was about to cry when Robin finally turned around to the group.

"Okay, here's how we're going to do this." Robin started. "We are going to blend into the crowd and position ourselves completely around the escorts. When I give a signal, we take out all the guards at once, grab Christina, mount her on Cynthia's pegasus and have her fly off to our camp in Valm Harbor. We'll take her out before anyone even notices that-"

Robin noticed that in a split second, everyone reached for their weapons and were looking past him. He tried to turn to see, but it was too late.

"ALEXANDER!"

Robin got glomped from behind and felt arms wrapped around him in a hugging embrace.

"Alex, by the Gods! I can't believe you made it here! I'm so happy my message got to you!"

Although he couldn't see behind him, he could tell by the voice that it was indeed Christina behind him. The dumbfounded expressions of his companions pretty much summed up how Robin was feeling. He then felt a quiet motion near his left ear and a slight whisper.

"Play along or you are all going to die here."

When Christina pushed herself off Robin, he turned around to see her, happy and excited. Her escort completely surrounded the Shepherds, showing them to be outnumbered and out maneuvered. The largest of the men was completely covered in armor, so they couldn't make out any physical features. He carried a large axe, a long sword and a large spear all on his back.

"Are these the companions you spoke of Christina?" The man asked.

"Yes, Captain Kimu, they are." Christina explained. "These are the survivors of the Siege of Sillfi I told you about."

"We're what?!" Lissa reacted, but Robin quickly covered Lissa's mouth. Lissa's eyes narrowed as Robin just shook his head.

Robin then looked back at Lucina, whom was swallowing her pride as well as she let go of her sword.

"So, how have you managed to escape the Shepherds?" Kimu asked. "I heard they landed at Valm Harbor."

"We just missed them." Robin lied. "We managed to elude them long enough that we know when we overstay our welcome."

Christina placed her hand on Robin's shoulder. "Well I'm just glad you're all safe." she said. The gesture showed a compassionate side to Christina to everyone around her, but Robin knew it was only an act.

"Let us take them back to the Baron." Kimu said. "I'm sure he would like to speak with your fellow soldiers."

Kimu turned to walk away and several of the escorts followed behind him.

"Oh, I'm sure Alex is eager to speak with him as well." Christina said. She flashed Robin a sinister smirk before pushing off him and walked off with the rest of the escorts.

Robin sighed and just looked at the ground. "There is no way this is going to end well..."

* * *

Upon arriving to the town mansion on the top of the hill, Robin and the others were all invited to the throne room. On the throne was a very young man, possibly in his mid-20s, dressed in noble garb with his hands clasped in front of his face. Another knight who was dressed more lightly than the other knights was before this young man, speaking.

"Baron Gewell, the southern town has been raided by the Shepherds." The knight reported. "I must station some of my men there to protect those people."

*Oh, this is definitely not going to end well...* Robin thought.

"NOT... at this time." The Baron spoke strangely, like he was shaking with every word. "I have word from the Emperor himself to not split up my forces now. Captain Hashal, you and your Bay're Riders have to stay in the town."

The knight nodded as he wasn't going to press the issue, but Christina stepped forward.

"Baron Gewell, if I may?" Christina spoke. "If the Shepherds are raiding the nearby towns, they could do more damage than to just attack you in a full-on battle."

"Explain." The Baron immediately demanded.

"Well, the towns stationed in the south and the east are incredibly vital for resources." Christina stated. "Resources that go to your troops. Without those resources, it could severely affect your troops in the long run."

The Baron smiled and seemed to have calmed down from Christina's suggestion. "You see? This is why we need Christina, people. She is the only one who thinks. Hashal, take your riders down to the town and watch for raids. When the time comes for our attack, our main force will regroup with you there."

Hashal salutes the Baron. "Sir!"

As Hashal leaves the room, he and Christina exchange brief glances at each other and he just leaves the room.

Gewell's hands start twitching on his arm chairs. "Who are these other people Christina?" He asked as calm as his voice would allow.

"I told you about the survivors of Sillfi I told you about." Christina answered. "They finally caught up to me."

"Good." The Baron said. "They can march out with the rest of the troops when we go to battle against the Shepherds."

"Well, they don't have to go now, right?" Christina pointed out. "I mean, they just got here. They need some rest."

"They will be out on the front lines leading the march against them. That's my decision." Gewell ordered.

Christina just shook her head. "You're not thinking clearly again. These men fought off and defeated hundreds of men during the siege. Sending them straight on the front lines would be a waste of their skills."

"How can we trust them?" Gewell questioned. "How can we trust these people?"

"These are my close friends and allies, Baron." Christina responded. "I would trust them with my life, right, Alexander?"

Christina turned to face Robin, who did not want to answer the question, but all of the eyes eyes in the room that focused on him pierced his soul.

"Yeah." Robin simply said.

"You see? We can trust them-" Christina said.

Robin stepped forward. "If I may, your Grace?" He spoke to the Baron. "You talk about attacking the Shepherds. Would I be out of line in asking how you plan to go about that?"

"You don't need to worry about that." The Baron answered. "Christina came up with a brilliant plan they'll never see coming."

"I'm sure she did." Robin glared over at Christina and she just gave him an angry glare back. "But I, too, am a strategist. I can look over her plan and see if there anything to critique. I just saw the countryside and believe there's some misinformation out there."

"Fine." The Baron said. "Christina, inform him of the plan. I must take my leave."

The Baron got up, escorted by his guards, and left the room.

"Kimu, show my friends to their rooms." Christina requested. "I'm sure they are very tired."

Christina left before anyone could react.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Robin called after Christina, but Kimu put his spear in the way.

"When Miss Christina retires to her quarters, nobody is allowed to interrupt her." Kimu stated.

"You just heard your Baron." Robin said. "She has to share her plans with me."

"And she will after she has rested." Kimu said. "For now, she wants you all to rest. You do not need to worry about the attack. We won't make our move until we hear back from our assassins."

"Assassins?!" Lissa asked.

"I suppose I can tell you." Kimu said. "We have assassins in Valm Harbor right now, ready to strike away at the Shepherds' command."

"You plan to assassinate the prince?!" Lucina asked.

"No." Kimu responded. "Our target is far more important. Christina says there is a tactician among the Shepherds named Robin. If we take him out, their entire invasion will fall apart."

Robin swallowed so hard, his tonsils almost went down his throat. "That... sucks to be that guy."

"Clearly, you're all tired." Kimu said. "Allow us to escort you to the barracks where you will have your own rooms."

* * *

While being escorted, Lissa tugged on Robin's shoulder so no one could listen to them.

"Why are we going along with this?!" Lissa whispered. "This is obviously some sort of trap!"

"Yeah." Robin nodded and whispered back. "But we've got no other choice. This isn't Sillfi. I didn't have time to plan ahead with this situation."

"That witch is just going to use us and then turn on us. She has absolutely no reason to help us out."

"Well, she could've exposed us when we were clearly outnumbered. Plus, they clearly want me dead. Why not just point me out and say 'that's the guy, kill him'? She wants something."

"You're not going to give it to her, right?"

Robin didn't answer and Lissa punched him in the arm.

"Right?" Lissa repeated.

"I want to hear her plan on how they're going to attack the Shepherds." Robin said. "We need as much information as possible if they're trying to retake Valm Harbor."

Lissa sighed. "Just don't let her fool you."

"Please, I'm smarter than you think." Robin smirked.

"I'm beginning to doubt that."

"Mr. Alexander, this is your room." Kimu spoke up as they arrived at a door.

"Just one second." Robin said, turning back to Lissa and whispered to her. "Chances are they know the names of important people from Ylisse. If they ask for your name, just make one up."

Lissa thought for a moment and then nodded. "Got it."

Robin went through the door, which Kimu politely opened. Once Robin stepped in, Kimu closed the door behind him. Robin looked around the room and the very first thing he noticed was Christina sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"So..." Christina clapped her hands once. "Are you in the mood for a nice talk?"


	5. Chapter 5: The White Witch

**Eye surgery aside, I wrote the chapter and got it done half blind. Cool.**

**Review below, let me know. ^^**

* * *

What do you want?" Robin could feel his own harsh tone as the words left his mouth.

Christina just sat there with a grin. "I just wanted to talk." she said. "The guard's would never let you to come see me, so I came to you." She then drew his attention to a shelf where a bottle of wine and two glasses were waiting. "I brought us something to drink. Help yourself."

Robin's glance snapped back to her. "No thanks. You know why we're here."

Christina leaned forward placing her chin on her hands. "To kill me right? Well...I'm right here." She threw her hands up. "You can kill me right now. It will make it difficult for you and your friends to leave with your lives, but I'm sure you'll manage. You might get some of your friends killed, but hey since Sillfi I'm sure that it wont bother you as-"

Robin grabbed the wrist of one of her hands and pulled her off the bed so he can look her in the face. His eyes were narrowed and his teeth clenched. "Shut up! No one is going to die here!"

Christina's arrogant smirk never left her face. "That's good to hear." she raised her other hand and stroked Robin's cheek as if to calm a lion. "If that is what you really want, you have to listen to what I have to say."

Robin let her go and turned away. Christina walked past him and poured herself a glass of wine.

"I know you and your companions all think me a heartless monster." Christina said. "And yeah, you're right. I was. But since I left Sillfi, I have honestly tried to go out of my way to do good things. It won't make up for what I've done, but I realized I had to do something to try and make amends." Christina had poured into the other glass too and tried to hand it to Robin, but he wouldn't take it. Christina sighed and just set it back down. "There's just one thing I have left to do. Once it is done, I will surrender myself to you. No games, no tricks, I will surrender, you can take me back to your Shepherds and you may judge me however you see fit."

"If it's sounds too good to be true, it usually is." Robin stated.

"You don't believe me?" Christina asked, acting shocked. "The nerve. After everything I've done to keep you alive? You know those assassins that are looking for you at your Shepherds' camp? Would have found you already if I hadn't given them a bogus detail of the great tactician. Isn't that right, 'Alexander'?"

"If you want me to trust you, tell me how Gewell plans to attack the Shepherds."

Christina smirked as she took a big gulp of her wine. "Gewell doesn't know what the hell he's doing. You saw him, he's not all... right up here." Christina pointed to her head.

"Neither are you." Robin added.

Christina glared at him for a moment, but regained her composure. "Walhart just wants Gewell to take back Valm Harbor. The Great Conqueror is too lazy to do it himself, so he leaves the job up to a pathetic nothing who leaves all planning of military strategies to me."

"And you want something in exchange for the information, right?"

Christina shook her head. "I haven't planned any strategies whatsoever. I don't plan to attack the Shepherds at all. It will be a pointless suicide attempt killing off all our soldiers, which there aren't that many to begin with anyway."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Christina another sip of her wine. "Remember that last thing I need to do I mentioned just a while ago? I could use your help for that."

"So you DO want something."

"Captain Hashal and I are planning a coup. I know, shocking, right? The infamous Christina planning a coup? But it will be quick and bloodless. All we need to do is kill the Baron and Hashal will take over as military governor."

"Okay? Why do you need my help?"

"Captain Kimu is incredibly loyal to Gewell. We need a way for Gewell to die without implicating myself, Hashal or anyone under his command. Should that happen, Kimu could insight civil unrest and cause a small civil war right here in this town. But... what if one of the recent arrivals to the town just happened to be an enemy spy? They would kill Gewell, get caught, and everything will work out for the best. You just need to convince one of your-"

"No deal! I'm not going to give up one of my companions just to help you with your ambitions."

"My ambitions?! I'm not doing this to take over his lands! This man is a crazy, selfish authoritarian and his people are suffering because of it. Putting Hashal in charge will help them."

"I am not putting them up to a plan YOU came up with that can end with them dying!"

"Just spend one day in the town and see it for what it really is! Once you do, I promise you will not turn your back on them."

"Guess what? I don't care about these people. I don't care about their situation. We are here to bring you back by force."

"Well, good luck with that." Christina said. "'Cause I'm not leaving until I'm done here. And you're just going to have to live with that. Good evening to you, sir."

Christina turned to walk away, but Robin reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Hold on!" Robin spoke.

Christina turned around and splashed the rest of the wine in his face. "Get your hands off of me!"

Robin kept a grip on her hand as he glared at her through the dripping wine on his face.

Christina grit her teeth. "You know, it would be a shame if the guards find out who the little blonde girl is who's traveling with you. What was her name again? Linda? Lisa? Lissa? Oh right, that's it. The princess of Ylisstol. If the guards were to find out, they just might kill her while she sleeps."

Robin kept a hold on her wrist. "You are vile."

"Let. Go."

Robin reluctantly let go of her and she opened the door. Before leaving, she turned back to him.

"One day in the town and you will see it my way." Christina said before slamming the door shut.

Robin stood there in solace for a couple of moments, trying to think a way out of this situation. In his frustration, he took the wine bottle and threw it at the wall.

* * *

Lissa was in the room assigned to her. A small room with only a single bed, a mirror and a window outside. She was lying flat on the bed, her hair undone and a mess, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"I really hate this place." Lissa said to herself. She turned her head to the window and saw night finally coming to the town, meaning she had been on that bed for hours. "Gods, what am I supposed to do? The second I step out of here, I just know they're going to cut off my head."

Suddenly, there was a knock at her door.

"Are you in there?" Robin's voice spoke from behind the door. "The guards are gone. Can I come in?"

"Robin!" Lissa shoots up out of the bed before thinking to herself. *Robin? Coming to my room? This late at night? Alone? Could this mean... Eep!* Her face turned red at the very thought.

Lissa quickly looked over at the mirror and saw what a mess she looked like. "Uh-j-j-j-j-just a minute!" She quickly jumps out of the bed, goes to the mirror and tries to fashion her hair up.

She tried tying them into her normal pigtails. No.

She tied them into a ponytail. No.

She tied it into a bun. No.

She tied them into a unicorn hair style. No.

She tied her hair back into pigtails. "Perfect!" She stared at the mirror for a moment. "What the hell am I doing?" She messed up her hair and it turned into a big static afro. She just glared at the mirror with disgust.

* * *

Robin waited outside the door for several long minutes.

"She's taking a long time..." Robin mumbled. He checked both ends of the hall to make sure there were no guards around then knocked on the door again. "Lissa, is everything all right?"

"Just a minute, dammit!" Lissa shouted from her room.

Robin stepped back from the door, expecting it to burst open. As he continued to wait, he whistled a tune he heard from a minstrel back in one of the towns they've been to. It was a nice, soft melody. Not particularly memorable, but it got stuck in Robin's head shortly before leaving that town. Finally, Robin heard the knob on the door turn. Lissa comes sliding out (her hair let down strait), propped her arm against the door and shifted her hips.

"Why, good evening." Lissa tried to say in a sexy voice.

Without even wondering her actions, Robin forced his way in, pushing Lissa with him, closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Oh, gods!" Lissa squealed. "This is actually happening, isn't it?"

Robin turns to Lissa. "We've got to get you out of here."

"What's wrong with in here? No one will bother us."

"You are in danger here. Christina is using you as leverage to get me to go along with one of her plans."

Lissa's face returned to its pale complexion and a black cloud hovered above her. "... Oh... You mean you're not here for..."

"... Here for what?"

Lissa gives a small laugh that was more of a cry for help. "Oh, nothing. I was just, uh, I was just... just... talking to myself."

"Well anyway, we're gonna get Cynthia to ride you out of here. Then I can work out a plan to get Christina without having an entire army trying to kill us."

"Well, forget it! I'm not going!"

"Lissa, please, don't be stubborn."

"No! You promised me, remember? You promised me WE would get Christina! I'm not leaving until she pays for what she's done! Vaike is dead because of her, and you're letting her go?! How do you even know she's trying to use me as leverage?!"

Robin sighed. "She snuck into my room and-"

"SHE DID WHAT?!" Lissa screamed. "YOU MEAN SHE-AND YOU-TOGETHER-IN THE ROOM-SHE-YOU-TOGETHER-WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Robin stood there with a terrified, blinking face. "We talked... and she told me if I didn't help her out, she'd have you killed."

Lissa went over and picked up her axe. "Then I'll kill her first!"

Robin stopped her just before she stepped out of the room. "That is suicide. She's too well-guarded and there are too many soldiers in town, so we can't escape."

"Some tactician you are! You can't even think of a strategy to help us out here!"

"I'm trying! But I can't think with the risk of you getting killed hanging over my head."

Lissa cooled down for a second and began to blush. "So you're worried about me?"

"Of course. Chrom would kill me if something happened to you."

Lissa then gave him a glare. "Fine, let's go." She walks past him. "... Jerk."

Robin looked at her as she walked right past him. "What?"

* * *

"Come on, Lucy, we've got to get my pegasus." Cynthia said. "She doesn't like being cramped up in those stupid stables."

Cynthia had dragged Lucina out of bed and were wandering the streets of Bay're late at night.

"Why the urgency, Cynthia?" Lucina asked.

"Robin said Lissa's in danger, so he's got a plan to get her out." Cynthia answered.

"What exactly did he say?" Lucina inquired.

"Yes, girly, what is Robin's plan?"

The girls stopped and turned to see that Christina was standing against the wall of a building, watching the girls. Lucina quickly drew her sword and pointed it at her.

"Put that thing away before you hurt someone." Christina said.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand." Lucina glared.

"Because I'm prettier than you." Christina responded. "And if I scream, a heavily-armored night patrol just two alleys over will hear and come rushing to me. I'm sure you girls want to avoid a fight as much as I do, so Marth dear, please put your sword away."

"My name is Lucina."

"Like I care about the difference." Christina scoffed. "Besides, I'm here to help you guys. Your pegasus is actually in the baron's private stables with all his other prized beasts. Only the baron is allows in there; no exceptions. Now, if you give me a day, I can convince him to get your pegasus out or you can just charge on in and get yourselves killed by his elite guards.

"We'll take our chances." Lucina said.

"Yeah, take that, creepy lady! Nyah!" Cynthia stuck her tongue out.

"Then you will alert the guards who will relay a message back to the baron's manor, who will then order his guards to kill your friends while they're asleep." Christina threatened. "Wow, you girls are dim. I guess Robin does all your thinking for you, doesn't he?"

"Shut your mouth." Lucina growled.

"Look, I am not your enemy here." Cristina stated. "I already offered my surrender to Robin. There's no need for us to get into a fight."

"You offered to surrender?" Lucina asked.

Christina smirked. "I also offered 'something else'. Let's just say he was willing to take one of those more than the other."

Lucina thought about what 'something else' meant, but thought it best to not think about it too much.

"Robin plans to take the little Ylisstol princess back to Valm Harbor, right?" Christina continued. "I can guarantee you're not leaving the town this soon." Christina points down the road. "Go down about three blocks, then make a left, then go straight. You'll come across a small fight beginning. You might want to lend them a hand." Christina turns and walks away. "Now if you'll excuse me, 'Marth', I need to catch up on my beauty sleep." She briefly turns back to Lucina. "You wouldn't know anything about that."

Lucina gritted her teeth as she watched Christina walk away.

"Wow, what a bitch." Cynthia spoke.

* * *

Robin had snuck Lissa out of the castle and were sneaking into the town. Robin looks around a corner, trying to avoid any of the armored patrols.

"With any luck, Lucina and Cynthia probably got the pegasus out." Robin told Lissa.

"Yeah, whatever." Lissa simply said.

Robin sighed and turned around to her. "Look, I know you want to get your revenge on Christina personally, but this is the safest option right now."

"Oh, it's not that." Lissa said.

"Then what is it?'

Lissa sighed and looked up at him with sad eyes. "I guess I should just come out and say it, huh?" Lissa takes a deep breath. "Okay... Robin, I-"

CRASH!

The sound of a window being broken made both of them jump. They turned and saw one of the armored patrols were raiding one of the houses on the street.

"All right! Drag them all out! Right now!" The patrol sergeant spoke. "It's tax season and these people need to pay!"

Robin and Lissa stayed back hiding as they watched the patrol drag out a family of three; a husband, a wife and a little girl, all in their pajamas and scared out of their minds.

"You people should be grateful!" The patrol sergeant said to them. "You are part of a new program in giving back to Emperor Walhart and our very own Baron Gewell! Your family was chosen to receive a 900 percent tax increase! We're just here to collect!"

"You damned soldiers!" The man shouted. "You already came last night and took everything we had! We have nothing more to give!"

The soldier took his spear and with the blunt end jabbed the man in the stomach, knocking him down. Then the soldier took the sharp end and jabbed it through the man's leg.

"Papa!" The little girl screamed, but the mother holds her back in her arms.

"You men, ransack the house!" The sergeant ordered. "Take away anything of value we can sell!"

The patrol began to rush into the house and began ransacking the house, except for one whom stayed with the sergeant.

"Sir, I don't think we should be doing-"

"I'm in charge here, you're not!" The sergeant interrupted. "If you're not going to ransack the house, make yourself useful and kill that dastard!"

The soldier looked at the man on the ground, writhing in pain, and heard the cries of the little girl. The cries reached to where Robin and Lissa were hiding.

"Robin, there's only eight of them." Lissa whispered. "We can take them, can't we?"

Robin just stood there, sweating from indecisiveness. He wanted to help these people, but he didn't want to get into a fight that could possibly escalate. He held his head as it began to pound against his skull.

"Da-dada! Have no fear, for Cynthia is here! Evildoers beware my lance of righteousness!"

"Oh gods, no." Robin groaned.

Cynthia had charged in and tried to attack the patrol sergeant, but the sergeant simply knocked the spear out of her hand and she fell to the ground. Lucina had arrived and quickly stepped between the sergeant and her sister.

"Men, get out here!" The sergeant ordered. "Let's kill these rebellious plebs!"

The soldiers came to march out of the house, dropping whatever valuables they had in their hands, and surrounded the two girls.

"Dah, dammit!" Robin pulled a lightning tome out and blasted one of the soldiers.

The sergeant quickly realized they had a powerful ally spell caster and quickly grabbed the little girl, pulled her away from her mother and used her as a human shield.

"Surrender or I kill the little girl!" The sergeant threatened.

"Ah, help me! Please!" The girl cried.

Both Robin and Lucina were hesitant to lay down their arms, but as the sergeant held a sword up to the girl's neck, they both threw down the sword and tome.

"Good, now you men, round up and execute them!"

The guards began to do that, but just then-

"Stand down, Sergeant!"

Everyone stopped and turned up the street to see Christina, surrounded by her private guards.

"M-Miss Christina, I-" The sergeant stuttered.

"Let go of the girl." Christina demanded.

The sergeant didn't hesitate and let the girl go, and she ran to her mother and father.

"And you will let them go as well." Christina added, referring to Robin, Lissa, Cynthia and Lucina.

"But, your ladyship, they attacked-"

"You threatened these people with a demanding tribute for some bogus tax law, attacked them, ransacked their house and threatened them with murder." Christina interrupted the sergeant. "Sergeant, I cannot forgive such offenses."

"I AM THE SERGEANT OF THIS PATROL! I MAKE THE LAWS ON THESE STREETS! I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!"

Christina grabbed him by his face and it felt like his face was in pain from simply being grabbed. And with her other hand, she ripped off his sergeant insignia.

"You and I need to have a talk." Christina said.

She dragged his body to the alley behind the house and two of Christina's guards stood outside the alley. After a few quiet moments, Christina emerged only, carrying only the soldier's sergeant insignia. She briefly looked around.

"You there." Christian pointed to the soldier that protested against ransacking the house.

The soldier quickly stood in attention. "Yes, ma'am!"

Christina walked up to the soldier. "It would appear that there has just been a vacated spot for the sergeant of your patrol. I would kindly ask that you fill it."

"Uh, yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." The soldier timidly accepted the sergeant symbol.

Christina gives him a gentle smile. "Please, don't be so formal. Just remember not to make your predecessor's mistakes."

The soldier nodded and ordered the patrol to continue their patrol. Christina turned her attention to the family.

"I'm terribly sorry for that man's actions." Christina apologized. "If there's anything I can do, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Oh, no need to apologize." The father said. "We're used to it by now-Gah!"

"Oh my goodness, they hurt you." Christina noticed the stab wound in the leg. She turned toward Lissa. "Excuse me, you have healing capabilities, don't you?"

Lissa just glared at her with narrowed eyes.

"Please help him." Christina requested. "He needs medical aid."

Lissa crossed her arms, reluctantly walked over toward the man and started to heal him. Christina smiled and walked over to Robin and Lucina.

"I told you. This stuff happens all the time." Christina said to Robin. "These men have the approval of Gewell to hurt these people. I have to be on my toes every day and every night to prevent tragedies like this from happening."

"You're probably the cause of it all." Lucina said.

"I am not a monster, despite what you may think of me." Christina stated. "Like I said, I will go back with you if we can just get what I want done."

"We don't have to do anything for you." Lucina said. "We can just leave and come back with the rest of the Shepherds. You will not win."

Christina sighed. "Guards." She turned to her private guards. "Our blonde friend here is of noble birth. The Shepherds are planning to send assassins here to kill her. I suggest we lock her away in my chambers until we can confirm her safety."

"What?!" Lissa reacted.

"Yes, ma'am." The guard said.

The guards picked up Lissa by her arms.

"Hey, let go of me!" Lissa struggled as they took her away.

"Hey, release her now!" Robin shouted. He tried to go after them, but Christina stops him.

"I could say which noble family she's heiress to, they'll probably kill her right on the spot." Christina said.

Robin goes to draw his sword, but Christina's guards pull their weapons before Robin could pull out his.

"Now now, gentlemen, calm down." Christina told them. "We're just having a heated argument." She turns to face Robin again. "After all, we wouldn't want anyone else to die because of bad decisions we made, right?"

Robin wanted to snap at her, shout at her, berate her, but no words were strong enough to get across what he was feeling right now. Christina, with an evil smirk, places her hand on his chest.

She leans up to him and whispers. "Don't worry. I'll keep a very close eye on her. She'll be safe with me." Christina pushed herself off of him. "The ends will justify the means, trust me."

She left with the rest of her escort back to the manor.


	6. Chapter 6: Dinner

**This ****chapter is the longest I've written yet. (All my stories have their longest chapters yet, thats why I'm taking so long)**

**So review ****Below let me know! ^^**

* * *

"So Christina has taken Lissa hostage now?" Lon'qu said.

The small group of Shepherds had gathered outside the manor, at first light. Most had gotten a good night's sleep, unaware of what happened last night. Robin was leaning against the manor's wall and looked as if he was going to nod off any second.

"That's right..." he said. "And she threatens to have her killed unless we kill the Baron for her and one of you take the fall."

"Ooh this really gets under my skin!" Nah said. "We should just kill her in her sleep and get going."

"Believe me I want to." Robin replied. "But we can't get to her. Her room is on the top floor and three rings of guards never leave her unattended. If we try to fight our way through, things will get ugly real fast."

"Well Lissa is in that room with her." Inigo pointed out. "Can't she just kill her then sneak out."

"Christina was very specific in telling the guards not to let her out." Lucina said. "If she were to try, the guards would just send her back, and if they saw Christina's dead body..."

"Quite a conundrum." Laurent said. "There must be some possibility we are overlooking."

"Hee Tee Hee Hee!" Henry's sudden bust caused the group to jump. "Think I got she cursed her out!"

Everyone just gave him a weird look. "Wha...?"

Henry cleared his throat. "Tried I curse to with her curse nose bloody she but a had counter good curse." he explained. "Words my jumbled are I speak when. Good very is she! Hee tee!"

"Let me see if I can translate." Laurent said. "You tried to curse her, but she counter cursed you and now you talk backwards."

"Much pretty." Henry laughed. "Knows she good some magic dark."

"RAGGGH!" The frustration had gotten to Robin as he began to pull at his hair. "How did I get us into this mess?!"

"Robin," Lucina said trying to speak o him. "Calm down, we'll think-"

"I won't calm down!" Robin snapped. "I can't calm down! I need to Think! There has to something I can do. Something-something-something-something-I-"

SMACK!

Lucina slapped Robin across the face. A red mark was left on his cheek, followed by a deafening silence.

"Stop it!" Lucina said. "This is not you Robin! And this is not how you strategize! You didn't freak out when you fought the Valmese for the first time. You didn't pull out your hair when you set their navy ablaze. You stayed calm and you figured it out."

"Lucina..." Robin tried to speak.

"If this is because of your refusal to sleep, then I am going to stop nagging you about it." Lucina continued. "I am ORDERING you to go back to your room and get some rest!"

"I, uh, ok..." Robin whimpered going back into the mansion.

Lucina took a breath and crossed her arms. She looked back at the group who were all staring at her. "What?" she asked.

Inigo then nudged Laurent and whispers, "You can cut their sexual tension with a knife."

* * *

Meanwhile, about three stories up the mansion, Christina had leaned out the window of her room and listened to the entire Shepherds' conversation.

"Oh dear." Christina said. "I do believe I've broken your brother's tactician." She turned her head inside her private room and looked at Lissa, who just stood across the room arms crossed, leaning against the wall and glaring at her. Christina walked through her large room and sat down at a table she had that was set with two cups of tea. "Are you sure you want some tea? I assure you it's not poisoned."

Lissa said nothing and just glared at her.

Christina nodded understandably. "You hate me, I understand. You have more reason to than others. You showed me kindness even after I admitted the evils I committed to you. And even after you showed me this kindness, I... I am sorry."

"You're sorry? Right." Lissa scoffed. "How about you apologize for threatening all of us and holding me prisoner?"

"The ends will justify the means." Christina stated. "Once Robin agrees to actually help me, this town will be free of this oppression. And I will return with you to Ylisse and pay for my crimes."

"I don't want to hear your 'ends-means' malarkey!" Lissa exclaimed. "Just know that if you try to follow through with your threats, things will end badly for you!"

"'My threats', huh?" Christina smirked and let out a sigh. "You want to know a little secret, princess? I've no way to back up those threats."

Lissa relaxed a little bit. "You mean you're bluffing?"

"Should the Baron know I let Ylissean Shepherds into his mansion, he'll order his men to kill me before you." Christina explained. "I'm just as much a prisoner here as you are. Those guards who always escort me around the town, their job is to keep me from leaving the town. They're not my personal protection or nothing."

"So that's why you want to kill the Baron. So you can freely get away! I see right through you! You can't fool me again!"

"I could care less what happens to me now. All that matters is that the Baron must be removed and Hashal be put in charge. You saw that sergeant in town last night, right? The Baron appoints men like that all the time. Not only that. He issues unjust punishments to innocent people and orders edicts to the province that harm not just the people in this town, but the surrounding towns."

"Why do you even care what happens to these people?" Lissa questioned.

Christina didn't answer right away. Instead she took a sip of her tea. "Tell me, why do you care what happens to the people in Ylisse?"

Lissa thought for a moment, but couldn't find an answer she felt could be satisying.

Christina places the cup of tea down. "Maybe that was an unfair question. There's no real way you can answer that. In my case, the people have been really good to me. Sure, they treat me like some sort of goddess because I can use some unexplained magic, but they don't worship me like an altar and instead treat me like a real person. So if I can manage to help these people, I consider that my own self-redemption."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Christina gets up from the table and opens the door to see Captain Kimu there.

"Lady Christina." Kimu bowed before her. "Baron Gewell requests your strategic insight during dinner tonight."

"That does sound lovely." Christina replied. "But may you extend an invitation to Alexander for me? I'm sure his insight will be twice as valuable as mine alone."

"I'll see what I can do, My Lady." Kimu bowed again.

Christina closed the door as he left. "Geeeehhh!" Her own body shook as though she were about to throw up. "I cannot stand to be alone with that man! It makes me sick!"

"I know the feeling..." Lissa muttered.

* * *

Robin just laid on his bed in the room assigned to him, trying to sleep by smothering himself with his own pillow.

"This isn't working." He muffled. "Stupid Lucina and stupid sleep. I'm a stupid tactician for stupid's sake."

"So who's the stupid one here?"

Robin removed the pillow to see Lucina was standing in the doorway.

"I am." Robin simply said. "I'm sorry. I just can't get to sleep."

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Lucina asked.

"Because I want to be difficult, that's why." Robin sat up.

Lucina just looked at him for a moment and sat on the bed next to him. She didn't say anything, she just sat there making both of them feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"... I have nightmares, okay?" Robin spoke up. "A different one every night. One night it'll be Vaike and Tharja telling me I failed them, the next it'll be Validar and that creepy doppelganger he has, then the next it'll be coming face-to-face with Walhart cutting me down. It's not easy."

Lucina laughed a little. "Nightmares, huh? That's a silly thing to worry over."

"Oh yeah, how well do you know about it?" Robin questioned. "When was the last time you had a nightmare?"

"I lived a nightmare." Lucina answered.

Robin realized what she was talking about and quickly relaxed himself. "I'm... sorry, I didn't mean... Here I am complaining about something so completely stupid. I need to keep focused."

"And without any sleep, you can't focus." Lucina stated.

"You're right." Robin agreed, then gave her a light smile. "Thank you, Lucina."

Lucina smiled back.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Mr. Alexander, may we speak, sir?"

Robin got up and answered the door to see Captain Kimu on the other side.

"For you, sir." Kimu handed Robin an envelope. "Good day."

Kimu left and Robin closed the door. He opened the envelope and read the message inside.

"What is it?" Lucina asked.

"An invitation... to dinner." Robin read the letter. "With Christina..."

Lucina immediately got up to her feet. "Alone?! Just the two of you?! You can't go!"

"And if I don't, she'll hurt Lissa." Robin added.

"That woman's a snake." Lucina said. "You know she's just going to manipulate you some more! Or worse, it could be a trap!"

"Yeah, but the invitation says to come." Robin said. "But it doesn't say I have to come alone." He looks back at Lucina and smiles.

"... What?" Lucina asked with a confused look on her face.

Robin walks up next to her and wraps his arm around her. "Would you mind accompanying me to dinner and watch my back?"

Lucina gave a light smile. "You can count on me."

"Great, it's a date." Robin said.

* * *

"It's a date." Christina said, looking at herself in a mirror. "Or as close to a date a crazy psychopath can get."

Christina was all alone in a beautiful changing room, trying to make herself look as good as possible for the dinner tonight.

"I'm sure once Robin sees the real person I am, he'll be falling head over heels for me."

She smiled into the mirror, realized she put on too much makeup and slaps herself in the face. "After you kidnapped his friend and threaten to kill them all-HELLO!"

She wipes off the makeup and looks at her plain face in the mirror. "Who do you think you're kidding you stupid girl? After Sillfi and what you've done here, there's no way you're ever going to find love."

She glared into the mirror for a long moment. She noticed the reflection in the mirror of the dress she had hanging on the wall behind her. She turned to the silky red dress, took it off the handle and placed it over her body to see how it would look on her. "Then you won't look for love. Just look for forgiveness. Start small. Get those little personal victories."

She clutched the dress tightly to her body. "And maybe in time your long, overdrawn plan will actually succeed."

She stands up and proudly looks in the mirror. "Of course it will! Just look at me! I'm beautiful, I'm intelligent, I'm level-heaaaaaa-beautiful! What man wouldn't want to fall in love with me!"

Christina slumped back down and plants her face in her hands. "The one man I want, that's who."

She begins to ruffle up her hair. "There's just got to be a way to show him I'm not evil!"

She looks at her messy hair and grabs a hair brush. "Once we deal with the Baron, I can start over."

She started brushing her hair. "Then, maybe then, he'll realize Naga has destined us to be together."

She stopped brushing her hair. "Naga... dammit! I nearly forgot about the tome! I need to find it before we leave."

She looks back in the mirror and realizes she has no makeup on then proceeds to reach for the makeup. "But I'll worry about that tomorrow. Tonight, I need to steal some hearts."

* * *

Later that night, just before the dinner, Christina stood outside the dining hall wearing the beautiful red dress that showed off her delicate features and her hair tied up into a beautiful little bun. Captain Kimu was standing at the door waiting for the other 'guest' to arrive.

"Captain Kimu, you did inform the Baron of my guest, right?" Christina asked. "We wouldn't want to surprise him at the last moment."

"I did indeed, Milady." Kimu responded. "He agreed, but seemed less than enthusiastic."

"Oh, that's a shame." Christina couldn't help but hide her smile.

"So, what's for dinner?"

Christina happily turned to see where Robin's voice came from, but that smile went away when she saw Lucina with him.

"What's she doing here?" Christina asked.

"Well, your invitation didn't say whether or not I could bring a guest." Robin replied. "I assumed you wouldn't mind."

Christina gives an uncomfortable chuckle. "Of course I wouldn't mind, but the Baron, I told you, is very suspicious of people. It was very difficult for you to get an audience with him at this time. I don't think he would like a fourth wheel."

"Not to worry, My Lady." Kimu said. "I forgot to mention how many people were coming to the dinner, so I do believe Mr. Alexander's friend will be as welcomed as he."

Christina stood there, frozen in stone.

"Glad we got that all sorted out." Lucina said as she latched onto Robin's arm like a date. "Shall we enter?"

"Let's." Robin said.

Christina watched as the two entered the dining room before her and if looks could kill, Lucina would be dead in an instant.

* * *

The dinner was laid out before everyone and was a delicious meal for all to have. There was an awkward silence filling the air accompanied by the shifting of eyes back and forth to everybody.

"Well, chefs certainly outdid themselves tonight." Christina broke the silence.

There was no answer and everyone just kept being quiet.

"Ah, well, it was kind of his lordship to allow us to partake in this dinner." Robin said. "For that, he has my gratitude."

"Well, since Christina trusts you, I believe I can trust you." Gewell said.

"Too bad you can't trust her..." Lucina mumbled before sipping from a glass of water.

Christina, who was sitting right across from Lucina, kicks her leg from under the table, causing Lucina to slip and spill her water on the table.

"You see, trust is very hard to come by." Gewell stated. "Christina is the only one here I can trust. She means the world to me now."

Christina put on her act. "Oh, My Lord, you're just too kind." She said in a sincere voice.

"Every piece of advice you have given me has been valuable." The Baron continued. "And you are the only one to have not used me for your own gains."

*Wish we could say the same.* Robin thought.

"Well I'm just an honest and open person." Christina said. "I would never dream of ever trying to deceive you or anyone."

"Tch!" Lucina scoffed.

Christina gave her a death glare. "Is there a problem?"

"The seige of Sillfi." Lucina said. "How exactly did you get Prince Chrom into that situation in the first place?"

Christina just glared at her.

"You deceived him by saying there was an army of Risen coming." Lucina answered her own question. "Then you trapped him in the fortress."

"Well, it was an ingenious plan if I do say so myself." Christina said, trying to lead the conversation astray. "And I dare say I almost succeeded."

"Oh, so you're not smart enough to have your plans succeed?" Lucina questioned.

Christina smiled and violently stabbed her fork into the food in front of her, all the while keeping her smile. "My, you are a talkative thing. I thought there was a tradition of Ylisstol women looking pretty and keeping your mouths shut. Apparently, you can't do either."

Lucina was about to jump the table and claw at the bitch's eyes until Robin placed his hand on her shoulder and kept her down.

"Don't poke the bear." Robin whispered.

The entire time, Baron Gewell kept eyeing back and forth between the girls. Once the girls settled down, he sat back in his chair. "Anyway, the reason I wanted to speak with you tonight Christina was I was hoping you could enlist your friends here into our forces. We need more men on the front lines."

"Now see, Alexander here is a tactician." Christina stated. "He would be better off behind the lines with me planning strategies. Great minds think alike, you know." Christina smiled at Robin when she said that.

The Baron's eyes shifted toward Robin and he held his hands together to hold back the violent shaking.

"Now, his companion here would be perfect for the front lines." Christina continued.

"Perfect for what? Cannon fodder?" Lucina questioned.

"I was thinking." Christina responded.

"Maybe coming here was a bad idea." Robin muttered.

Just then, the dinner was interrupted by Captain Kimu, whom approached the Baron.

"My Lord." Kimu said, saluting the Baron. "Some of the guard arrested three children playing around the eastern wall. What do you wish-"

"Execute them. Publicly. By beheading." The Baron quickly spoke.

"What?!" Christina exclaimed. "B-but they're just children!"

"They weren't playing on the wall." The Baron said. "They were sabotaging the wall. They were a part of the invasion of the town. They need to be dealt with and they need to be dealt with severely."

"They were children playing a game!" Christina explained. "They didn't know any better!"

"There is a law in place that I have made known that anyone who approaches the wall that is not a part of Kimu's guard will be branded a traitor and executed! No exceptions!" The Baron shouted.

"Uh, if I can interject here..." Robin spoke up. "These ARE just children who probably don't know any better. So why don't you just make it clear that you won't tolerate such behavior. Just lock them away for a night, scare them and tell them that if they break the law again the consequences will be more severe."

The Baron's hands started to shake more violently as he eyed Robin once again.

"I second that idea!" Christina agreed. "Um, Alexander is right. Just scare them a little bit. They'll learn their lesson."

"... Fine." The Baron slammed his hands on the table, stands up and walks out followed by Kimu.

Christina sighed a breath of relief. "Thank you." She said to Robin. "I'm afraid I might be losing some of my influence over him now."

"I did it to help those kids." Robin stated. "I didn't do it for you."

Christina looked down and realized she hadn't eaten a single thing all night. "I'll tell the guards the assassination attempt has passed."

"Huh?" Robin seemed confused.

"You're little princess friend, I'm going to let her go." Christina said. "If you all want to flee, that's fine. I don't care. I just wanted a chance to redeem myself. That's all I ever really wanted. I see that's too much to ask for now. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Christina got up from the table and left.

* * *

Outside the Manor, with the evening sun setting...

"Just we'll the climb side the building of pull and out her!" Henry said. "Get And Laurent Inigo shoulders my on."

Everyone just stood around, just glaring at Henry.

"We don't understand what you're saying." Lon'qu said. "Try speaking backwards or something."

"Oh, if I could just get my pegasus out of my stables, I could fly up and rescue her." Cynthia pouted. "I could be a real hero!"

The doors opened and Lissa came in, followed by Robin and Lucina.

"Ah! Fresh air!" Lissa said. "Feels so good."

"You're free? What happened?" Nah asked.

"Did you guys storm the hallways, taking down every guard, grabbed Aunt Lissa, then use a rope tethered by the bedroom sheets to jump out the window and escape?" Cynthia asked.

"I don't think so since no alarm has been raised." Laurent stated.

"No, Christina just let her go." Lucina told them. "All she wants is for us to leave."

"I think we should take it." Lon'qu said. "It's not worth the trouble we've been put through."

"Not yet." Lissa said. "Christina needs to hang for what she's done."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Henry said. "All right! The curse has lifted! Let me try another one!"

"Aunt Lissa, he's right." Lucina said. "We shouldn't push our luck in this situation."

"Besides, there aren't any pretty ladies in this town besides her anyway." Inigo said.

"Is that ALL you think about?" Laurent asked Inigo.

"Oops, she got me again!" Henry said with a tissue placed over his nose. "She got me with a runny nose curse this time!"

Lissa stomped her feet in protest. "We are not letting her go!"

"THAT'S IT!" Robin shouted.

Everyone just froze and looked at him.

"I think I just came up with the best case scenario for everybody!" Robin said. "Lissa, you're a genius!"

"I'm-what-hey wait!" Lissa stuttered then shouted as Robin ran back into the mansion.

* * *

Christina was back in her private room, trying to smother herself to death with a pillow.

"I hate my life." Her voice muffled in the pillow.

Christina removed the pillow once she heard a commotion coming from outside.

"Hey, stay back!"

"You are not allowed here!"

"Christina!" Robin's voice pierced through the door. "It's Alexander! Open up!"

Christina got off the bed and opened the door to see the guards pinning Robin to the wall with the safe parts of their spears.

"What?" Christina asked.

"That problem you asked me to solve for you?" Robin asked. "I think I found a new solution that could help both of us."

Christina stood there for a moment, not showing any indication of what she was thinking. "Guards, leave us."

"But Milady-"

"NOW!" Christina shouted.

The guards released Robin, walked down the hall and disappeared. Once they were out of sight and out of earshot, Christina walked up to Robin and grabbed him by his wrist.

"In my room." Christina said. "We'll have more privacy in there."

She leads Robin into her room and closes the door behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile, still in the hallway, Captain Kimu peeks his head from behind a hallway corner.

"She lead him into her room?" The Baron asked Kimu.

In the Baron's chambers, Kimu had reported what he saw.

"Yes, Milord." Kimu answered. "From the way it looked, it seems the two are more involved than they let on."

The Baron rubs his head as he sat up from his bed. "Oh, how they deceived me." He muttered. "They came here to take her away from me."

He grabbed his pillow and tried to relieve his stress by squeezing it. "They think I am stupid! But they can't have her! No!"

He started to become a bit more forceful on the pillow. "She belongs to me! She is MINE!"

"My Lord, please calm yourself." Kimu said.

The Baron stopped for a moment as if he was trying to catch his breath. "I just can't... I can't help it."

He started to rip the pillow and feathers started to fly through the chambers. "I! JUST DON'T! LIKE! PEOPLE! TOUCHING MY THINGS!"


End file.
